Our mission is to normalize the inclusion of incarcerated writers, filmmakers and artists in mainstream venues by bridging the gap between them and harnessing this creative proximity as a path to de-carceration and public safety.
To achieve our mission we have a twofold strategy. We support the most talented writers and artists in prisons across the country, providing them the resources they need to get their creative work outside prison walls, be fairly compensated, and contribute their creativity to the movements of abolition, de-carceration, and liberation of incarcerated people.
Secondly, we support capacity building for publications, galleries, museums and other organizations committed to this work, to help them meaningfully center currently-incarcerated people in creative spaces while fairly compensating them.
Currently on view at Empowerment Avenue’s inStudio in Oakland, The Distance Between: Traveling Beyond Count Time features work by currently and formerly incarcerated artists reflecting memory, endurance, and imagination. The exhibition explores the space between confinement and liberation, inviting us to see differently and imagine a world beyond systems of punishment.
The exhibition features Orlando O. Smith, whose work is also the focus of O. Smith: Artivist, a solo exhibition at SFMOMA, on view July 25, 2026–June 20, 2027.
Experience more of Orlando’s work alongside artists from across the EA community at inStudio.
UPCOMING EVENTS
OUR IMPACT IN 2025
Revenue Generated for EA Artists
System-Impacted Creatives Supported
States We Work Across
Stories Published
